Home of the brave (social studies)

A democracy is when the people living in a country decide on things together!. A democracy allows people to vote for officials who will run their country and help make decisions... 7 C

Scott Foresman Reading Street 2.6.2

ISBN 0-328-13312-4

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by Barbara Wood

Genre Comprehension

Skills and Strategy Text Features Expository

nonfi ction

• Fact and Opinion

• Generalize

• Monitor and Fix Up

• Captions

• Maps

• Glossary

Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, ™

Lexile, ® and Reading Recovery ™ are provided

in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.

Scott Foresman Reading Street 2.6.2

ISBN 0-328-13312-4

ì<(sk$m)=bddbcd< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

by Barbara Wood

Genre Comprehension

Skills and Strategy Text Features Expository

nonfi ction

• Fact and Opinion

• Generalize

• Monitor and Fix Up

• Captions

• Maps

• Glossary

Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, ™

Lexile, ® and Reading Recovery ™ are provided

in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.

Facts Opinions

1 Make a T-chart like the one below On

one side write some facts you have learned about voting On the other side write your opinions about these facts

2 Reread pages 13–14 In your own

words explain what it means to have freedoms

3 What are some symbols of the United

States of America? Can you find them

in this book?

4 Look at the map on page 6 What does

the map show in the light green color?

Reader Response

by Barbara Wood

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ISBN: 0-328-13312-4

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What is democracy?

Think about your classroom Who makes the rules? Does your teacher sometimes ask you to help make decisions? Imagine you had to find a way to make decisions with thousands of other people!

This is what happens in many countries

around the world A democracy is when the

people living in a country decide on things together The United States of America is a type of democracy

A democracy allows people

to vote for officials who will run their country and help make decisions.

3

The American Revolution

At one time in history, there were not

fifty states as there are today Instead, there

were thirteen colonies A colony is a group of

settlers ruled by another country

The American Colonies were ruled by Great Britain Great Britain helped to protect

the thirteen colonies The colonists got tea,

cloth, and other supplies from Great Britain

In return, the colonists had to follow British

rules and pay tax money to Britain

Colonists, angry about taxes,

threw tea into the harbor

during the Boston Tea Party.

4

5

The colonists did not like paying money

to Britain, but they had no say in the matter

They decided they wanted to be free from British rule They wanted to make their own decisions They wanted to have their own

government.

In 1775, war broke out between the colonists and the British soldiers The war was called the American Revolution Through this war, America won its

independence

Americans became free to make their own rules and decisions

The American Colonies were ruled

by the British king, George III.

N

S

W E

Thirteen Colonies

6

The original thirteen

colonies were on the

east coast.

7

Creating a Government

To build a strong country, the people had

to agree to create a new government and work together In those days, it was hard to travel Mail was very slow Working together was tough!

Creating a new government was not easy

Americans living in different parts of the country had different needs In the northern colonies, people were interested in fishing and building ships In the central colonies, people ran small farms In the South, people ran large farms, called plantations

A plantation is a large farm.

How could all the states make decisions together? What kind of government would be

fair to everyone?

Americans wanted to create the best government possible They looked at the

democracy of ancient Greece, where every

person could take part in government They

talked about the republic of Rome, a kind of

democracy where people elected officials to

represent them in government They thought

about the way some Native American groups

made decisions They also talked about the

many good laws of England

In ancient Rome people

elected officials to

represent them.

The United States Constitution

A group of men from the different states met together Today we call these men our Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers wrote the United States Constitution In it they explained how people would choose a president to lead the country

They explained how people would choose lawmakers to make the laws They also

explained how courts would be set up to make sure the laws were followed Every few years, the people would choose new leaders

George Washington and other Founding Fathers

in 1787

9

All of this happened more than two hundred years ago Today, we still follow the

Constitution, and the United States is still a

democracy

A democracy is not run by just one person, such as a king or an emperor In

a democracy many people work together

to make decisions Everyone living in a

democracy has rights and freedoms

11

The United States Capitol

is in Washington, D.C This

is where our leaders make our nation’s laws.

Rights and Freedoms

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States In a famous

speech in 1863, he reminded Americans that

their government was “of the people, by

the people, and for the people.” This means

the people are in charge The people can

choose their leaders and the lawmakers The

President is not allowed to make all the rules

and decisions by himself

Part of the President’s job

is to listen to the ideas of people from all over the country

Abraham Lincoln

12

13

The Bill of Rights

The Founding Fathers decided to add a list of freedoms to the Constitution The list

is called the Bill of Rights New laws cannot take away these freedoms

One of our freedoms is freedom of speech

Freedom of speech means people can give their opinion about almost anything They can even disagree with the President

Martin Luther King Jr was

a famous African American leader who worked hard to obtain rights and freedoms for all Americans.

Freedom of religion is another important freedom This freedom means people have

the right to believe what they wish They can

worship wherever they want A lot of early

settlers came to America because they did

not have this freedom in their own countries

Even today, some people move to the United

States to gain these rights

These early pilgrims moved

to America so that they

could practice freedom of

religion

15

Symbol of Freedom

Liberty is another word for freedom The

Statue of Liberty in New York City is an

important symbol of freedom The people

of France gave the Statue of Liberty to the people of America as a gift more than one

hundred years ago The Statue of Liberty shows a woman holding a torch The torch stands for the light

of freedom The woman also wears a crown with seven rays coming out of the top The rays stand for the seven

continents of the world.

Fair Elections

In a democracy all people can vote on important decisions It is important that

voting happens fairly This is why voting is

open to all citizens If some people were not

allowed to vote, their ideas would not be

heard

In a democracy each person’s vote is kept secret People cannot be forced to tell other

people how they voted This way, everyone

can feel safe and can vote exactly as they

think is right

These people cast

their votes at voting

booths.

17

Everyone Needs to Take Part

For a democracy to work, everyone needs

to participate Some people participate by running for election Others help by writing letters telling government leaders about their opinions All citizens can help by reading and learning a lot about what is going on in their country

Even kids can take part Right now, you are already helping

by learning all about democracy!

Now Try This

Invent a Group Government

What do you think would be the best way to work together with your classmates

in a group? The Founding Fathers met to

talk about how their new democracy would

work In a small group with other classmates,

talk about how you could work and make

decisions together

19

1 First, brainstorm a list of ideas Who will be in charge? How will the leader

or leaders be chosen? What rights and freedoms will you have?

2 Look through your ideas and decide which ones you like best Write a short constitution explaining your ideas

3 Explain your idea for a group government

to your class Other groups will tell about their ideas too

4 Compare your ideas In your opinion, which ideas would work best? Why?

Her e’s H ow to D o It!

Your Rights and Freedoms

The Constitution

Glossary

of settlers ruled by

another country

seven large areas of

land on Earth

a type of

government

how a country is

ruled

of events from the past

freedom

that reminds us of

an idea

1 Make a T-chart like the one below On

one side write some facts you have learned about voting On the other side write your opinions about these facts

2 Reread pages 13–14 In your own

words explain what it means to have freedoms

3 What are some symbols of the United

States of America? Can you find them

in this book?

4 Look at the map on page 6 What does

the map show in the light green color?

Reader Response